I had been looking forward to this great opportunity as the new community engagement specialist at Safe & Just Michigan. Then, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer put the state under shelter in place status the day after my first day on the job. I couldn’t help but think about how exactly I could engage the community during [...]
The Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration identified the suspension of driver’s licenses for reasons that have nothing to do with unsafe driving as one of the major drivers in Michigan’s jail growth over the past few decades. In 2018, nearly 358,000 people lost their driver’s license for reasons that had nothing [...]
The final report of the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration found that most arrests in Michigan are for misdemeanors that harmed no one. Research shows police squander many hours and large amounts of taxpayer dollars to arrest, book and jail people for these minor offenses. For that reason, the task force recommended [...]
In these are trying and uncertain times, we at Safe & Just Michigan want you to know that we are working to limit the impact of COVID-19 on people in Michigan's jails and prisons, to keep the public up-to-date on what is being done, and to support advocacy for diversion and decarceration both during the [...]
It has been a difficult few weeks full of changes and challenges for all of us, We want to send our best wishes to you, your friends, and to your family during these trying times. One helpful things to do during a crisis is to keep connected and maintain a sense purpose. That’s why we’re [...]
I walked into my first Day of Empathy event nearly four years ago feeling terrified, socially averse and embarrassed. I was ashamed and had been shamed. I had only recently completed my three years of incarceration and a bit more than two years of parole and probation. The memory of being paraded, in a bright [...]
In January 2020, the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration issued a list of 18 legislative action items that — if enacted — could revolutionize Michigan’s county jails and the lives of the people who come into contact with them. The task force drafted their recommendations after holding six meetings across Michigan. [...]
What happens when you bring a task force together including Democrats, Republicans, legislators, victims-rights advocates, county commissioners, law enforcement officers, and formerly incarcerated people? A list of 18 recommendations designed to reduce the jail population across the entire state. According to the original executive order the Michigan Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration was [...]
As 2019 winds down, we thought we’d take a moment to look back at a busy year for criminal justice reform in Michigan and take stock of all that’s happened. From the introduction of Clean Slate to the passage of Raise the Age, the formation of the Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration [...]
The bills in the Clean Slate legislation widen the expungement process to include hundreds of thousands of people who had been excluded from it and also automate that process in many cases. However, the bills also contain terms that can be confusing. For instance, many bills refer to “assaultive crimes” without giving a clear definition [...]